Gauge line holder



May 16, 1950 B. T. PALMER GAUGE LINE HOLDER 4 Filed Aug. 7, I947 Patented May 16, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GAUGE LINE HOLDER Bernard Thomas Palmer, Arlington, Va.

Application August 7, 1947, Serial No. 766,947

2 Claims. (01. 33-86) This invention relates to building and other construction and more particularly to gage-line holders or trigs used in lining up the intermediate construction of walls with the ends thereof.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple yet very practical form of line holder, particularly adaptable for use in masonry wall construction.

Another object is to form this line holder out of two sheet stampings of metal, plastic or other suitable material, made slidably interengageable by bending the edges of one stamping over the edges of the other, bending their opposite outer ends at right angles to form gripping aprons, and providing resilient means to urge these stampings to slide together, producing a resilient gripping force on the aprons to make the holder readily applicable to any size wall thickness within a reasonable range.

Another object is to adapt this range so as to make the device useful particularly in connection with brick walls constructed of standard sizes of bricks.

Another object is to stamp out ears from the sheet stampings near their apron ends and turn them up to form anchors for the ends of a spring to provide the resilient gripping force.

Another object is to stamp out additional ears in one of said stampings and bend them into reversely offset alternate hooks along the base of one of the aprons for threading the line therethrough so that it will be held with sufficient friction to support the weight of the holder if it should become necessary to pull it up by the line, and to provide the necessary tension in the line between the supports formed by these holders when mounted at opposite ends of the wall with the line between them for lining up the edge of said wall.

Other and more specific objects will appear in the following detailed description of two modifications of a preferred form of gage line holders constructed in accordance with the present invention, havin reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 shows in perspective a portion of a brick wall under construction, partly broken away, and having a gage line stretched along its edge and supported by three holders constructed in accordance with this invention, one of said holders being illustrated in phantom as supported on the line when out of use,

Figure 2 is a plan view of one of said holders, with a section thereof illustrated by broken lines in extended position,

Figure 3 is a side view thereof, with one section extended against spring tension thereon,

Figures 4 and 5 are opposite end views of the holder,

Figure 6 is an enlarged detailed perspective view of the alternately reversed hooks formed at one end of the holder, and

Figure 7 is a detailed perspective view of a modified form of hooks and adjacent apron.

The trig or ga e line holder made in accordance with the present invention comprises two slidably interengageable sheet stampings in the form of fiat rectangular elongated plates l and 2, having the two opposite edges 3 and 4 of the stamping l bent over the corresponding two edges of the other stampin 2. The outer end of stamping 2 is bent at to form an apron 5 and the outer end of stamping l is similarly bent to form an apron 6.

Apron 6 has its middle portion cut out except for three ears which are bent into alternately reversely curved hooks 1, 8 and 9. Hook 8 may be slightly oiTset from alignment with hooks l and 9, in order to provide more frictional contact with a gage line l0 passed therethrough. The loops of these hooks are made a little smaller than the gage line so that it will fit snugly therein. The line is quickly attached by lacing it first around hook I, then around hook 8, then 9 in succession, or vice versa beginnin at the other end with hook 9. It may be just as quickly removed by reversing the process, or it may be pulled through in either direction to any position desired without removal from. the hooks. The snug fit in the loops of the hooks and slight offset provide sufficient friction, however, to hold the line taut, when stretched along a wall, as shown in Figure 1, and to hold the device itself without slipping off the line, if it should be necessary to pull it up by the line. This is an important feature of this holder because it makes it so easy to move it from one place to another without botheringabout attaching the line in the new place.

It will be observed from an inspection of Figure 6 that the center hook, 8 is directed upwardly and the lateral or end hooks I and 9 are directed downwardly. The center hook primarily forms a guide for the line III, while the end hooks I and 9 constitute supports therefor. Further, the major axis of the center hook 8 is slightly above the major axes of the end hooks l and 9 so that the line ID in passing through the hooks of a holder lies in a tortuous path and tension to a limited degree is placed on the line when the latter is in stretched condition as illustrated in Figure 1. In the use of this line holder by masons, the line H] is frequently subjected to rough usage and in many instances the line during placement in connection with a new course of bricks to be laid is broken when undue strain is placed thereon in stretching the line between end walls of a structure. Should the line break during such operation, the tortuous or zigzag path present in the line where engaged with the holder presents suilicient friction between the hooks and the line as to prevent escape of the holder from a broken line. Assuming that at least three men are engaged in the laying of a brick wall, the middle man may leave his gage line holder permanently attached to the line I0 when the latter is to be shifted for the laying of a new course, and one of such holders employed by the middle man is illustrated by phantom in Figure 1 as hanging on the line by the hook suspension of the holder.

Ears H and I2 are punched out of the top of the stampings I and 2 respectively, and are bent upwardly as shown to form anchors for the intervening tension spring 13 which has its ends hooked through holes in these ears. Ear I! may form a stop for the end of stamping 2 in its fully retracted position, with the aprons closest to each other. The two aprons may be manually separated to any extent desired, within the limits of their sliding engagement, in order to mount them over any size brick or other material of which the wall may be built. Any number of these holders may be used on one line along a wall, all of them being turned with their lineholding hooks on the same edge of the wall away from the operator.

Obviously the spring l3 may be replaced by any other tension means, such as a suitable rubher band, stretched over the ears H and E2, in which case these ears may be hooked over slightly to prevent the rubber band from slipping off.

The aprons and hooks for the line may also be stamped out in various difierent ways. Figure '7 illustrates one other modification having apron 6' formed as shown, and the ears 1', 8 and 9' spaced somewhat further apart than in the form described above. Ears l and 9 are bent or directed downwardly and have their loops aligned, but ear 8 bent or directed upwardly is somewhat offset upwardly therefrom.

It will be observed that in any modification of these holders, the two slidable parts are made from sheet material that may be a ductile metal, and may be readily stamped out and easily formed and assembled, making a very simple, yet much morev practical and versatile device than those previously used. j

Obvious further modifications in the detail form of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A trig or gage line holder comprising a pair of rectangular plates, one plate having its longitudinal edges bent over the top thereof to slidably receive the longitudinal edges of the other plate therein, said plates each having a punched out ear near its outer end bent upwardly so that the ear of the one plate limits the overlap of the plates by engagement of the inner end of the other plate therewith, a retractile member connecting said ears to draw the plates together, the outer ends of the plates being bent down at right angles to form aprons to grip the opposite sides of a brick or wall therebetween, the bent end of one plate being cut lengthwise substantially at the angle to form three spaced parallel strips, the outer strips being bent downwardly and inwardly to form horizontally aligned hooks and the intermediate strip being bent upwardly and inwardly to form a reversely arranged hook ofi'set above the other hooks to frictionally grip and hold taut a gage line laced alternately around and through the hooks at the angle bend corner and face of a wall and snugly fitting the same for adjustment thereon and whereby the line held by a plurality of trigs may support a trig hanging therefrom against displacement.

2. A trig or gage line holder comprising a pair of rectangular plates, one plate having its longitudinal edges bent over the top thereof to slidably receive the longitudinal edges of the other plate therein, said plates each having a punched out ear near its outer end bent upwardly so that the ear of the one plate limits the overlap of the plates by engagement of the inner end of the other plate therewith, a rectractile member connecting said ears to draw the plates together, the outer ends of the plates being bent down at right angles to form aprons to grip the opposite sides of a brick or wall therebetween, and the aprons being formed along the angle bends with gage line gripping means to hold taut a gage line between a plurality of holders at the angle bend corners and face of a wall and for adjustment thereon and whereby any trig may be supported in a hanging position against displacement.

BERNARD THOMAS PALMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 673,658 Lawler May '7, 1901 995,714 Platt June 20, 1911 1,251,048 Kesterson Dec. 25, 1917 1,266,776 Dietzel May 21, 1918 1,369,652 Hall Feb. 22, 1921 2,030,539 Riley Feb. 11, 1936 2,286,669 Carr June 16, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 69,246 Norway May 14, 1945 

